EVENTS

A Flying Spaghetti Monster Wedding

From formspring.me: What are the guidelines to a Flying Spagetti Monster wedding? Are the roles gender specific? Can they be substituted easily for gay/lesbian couples?

Pastafarians aren’t known for being particular devout, so I’m not sure if we have any strict wedding traditions. But here are somethings you can try to do:

1. It is preferred to have the officiator dressed in full pirate regala for an occasion blessed by His Noodliness. But if you want to be accomidating of non-Pastafarians in attendence (like confused in-laws), subtle touches will do:2. If you’re having a reception, you must serve at least one pasta dish. Marinara, alfredo, and pesto are all acceptable sects.

3. Don’t miss an opportunity to count how many times you’ve been blessed by his noodly appendage. Pay the FSM homage on your wedding cake too:Pastafarians are also very GLBT friendly, so these traditions need not be limited to heterosexual couples.

Are there any other Pastafarian wedding traditions I’m forgeting? I may be out of the loop because I’m one of those Talk Like a Pirate Day/Halloween Pastafarians (I know, lazy – don’t judge me for not worshipping every Friday).

Comments

That’s actually sort of sad IMHO. It’s not that I’m a fan of religiously themed weddings, it’s just that they flying spaghetti monster is a reaction piece, he is satire. It just seems odd to have your wedding defined by something that is a response to the beliefs of others. Atheists get defined in the negative a lot, as in “anti-religious,” “anti-faith” etc. Personally, I choose to define myself without using the characteristic of faith in the positive or the negative.

That cake totally cracks me up. I just hope the little random decorations on it were candy or something equally edible, because even at an atheist wedding, there’s bound to be at least one person stupid enough to swallow little plastic pieces.

Of course it was a joke, I liked the post a lot, I’m just saying it’s interesting how much we atheists let ourselves be defined by what we aren’t. Trust me, someone out there has had a flying spaghetti monster themed wedding, I guarantee it. It’s ok to think something is funny and think it is thought provoking . . . sometimes grown up humor can do that.

I kinda wish we’d thought of that. Instead, we had a pirate/ninja wedding.I quote my devoutly-Catholic aunt: “I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to my parish priest.”If it’s something that makes you happy, and you have fun with it, and it’s something that works… who cares what everyone else thinks? Have fun. It’s YOUR day. :p

Well, in that sense, I suppose it’s really no different than defining oneself by HAVING faith. If it’s important to us, we often want to show it. And hey, if someone wanted to have their wedding with a FSM theme, or even an invisible pink unicorn theme, well why not? It’s their wedding, after all. *shrugs*

The mission statement of a GLBT group I used to belong to was to “drive it’self out of existence.” Their reasoning being that if they actually ended discriminatory practices they wouldn’t be a necessary part of the public discourse anymore. I look at atheism in much the same way, if we are truly successful in spreading critical thinking, atheism won’t even really be a meaningful term, we will all just be “logical people unconcerned with sky men.” But that wouldn’t look good on a bumper sticker =)

Oh, and I don’t see it as equivalent to having faith. My lack of faith is only important because so many others try and push it on me in so many ways. If people would stop telling me about the sky man, I’d be just as happy if it was never brought up again. In an ideal world, I wouldn’t even have to define myself as atheist =)

Personally I would hope they would think, “Well they seem to be in love, they have the same sense of odd humor and I hope they make it.” I would be very happy finding someone who thought of either an FSM or ninja/pirate wedding as a cool thing.

Sometimes it’s just about doing something fairly unique so that everyone remembers the experience. Sometimes it’s just about having fun. Everyone’s been to a religious wedding, and they tend to be fairly forgettable. There isn’t usually a whole lot of difference between John and Jane’s religious wedding and Angela and Adam’s religious wedding, even if they’re from different religions.

There will always be people who believe in higher powers, just as there will always be people who see such belief as being illogical and irrelevant. I suppose it’s possible that one day, none of it will be important…But to me, it is important to a degree, because that belief, or lack thereof, shapes how people view the world, and therefore, how they react to it. It’s not the whole of one’s personality, but it IS an integral part of it, and as such, should not be shunted aside as meaningless.Should it be the implement by which we measure ourselves, each other, and the world? No. But it should be taken into account when figuring out what makes someone tick.

It’s only important because of those who have a belief in the a higher power.It would never occur to anyone to have an “I’m not a racists” wedding, or an “I believe in heliocentrism ” wedding, or a “germ theory not 4 humours wedding because those nonsensical beliefs are on the ropes. Ideally one day theism will be nearly extinct and atheism will sort of lose it’s meaning.I just find it funny to have such a significant event defined in the alternative, if you still don’t take my meaning then that’s on you, I’ve been clear.

I have to say, I think that is sort of a false dichotomy. Anyways, I really wasn’t trying to create a long drawn out discussion; I was merely stating that I prefer be identified by what I embrace than what I reject. I love the flying spaghetti monster as satire, and I support atheist causes, but those are rejections of the beliefs that define others, they aren’t really about me. I have seen many weddings, and it’s very possible to be creative and unique without being pro-religion or anti-religion. On a day that is supposed to be about me and my fiancée . . . I’d just as soon ignore religion entirely and focus on us.

I disagree. I went to a religious wedding once and it’ll be memorable because at the reception there was no music (not even the funky chicken, electric slide, or the cha-cha) and, and this is the worst part, no alcohol. I don’t know what was wrong with these people, but I’m thinking the lack of alcohol in their lives caused it.

What’s ironic is, I used to work at weddings doing the music, and one of the best ways to knock down the price for musicians is to offer them access to the open bar. But, that was out of necessity, because I wasn’t playing Canon in D one more time sober.

My point was just that it takes a lot more work to make a traditional ceremony memorable in good ways (religious or not) because so much of the ceremony is ritual and tradition and almost completely unchangeable. I think most people come into these things from the standpoint that they don’t want a traditional religious ceremony and since it’s not going to be traditional they start looking for things to fill the gap. I really don’t think anyone goes into something like this with the attitude that they’re planning on rubbing their irreligiousity in the attendee’s faces, although I can see why someone might think that they are.

i did the D&D/Star Trek wedding (in a tux, with a sword, no less) just a few months ago. it was fun. for a str8 couple, even. i was on the “male” side of the attendants. in a tux, with a sword. did i mention the “str8” groom was fucking the “male” DJ of said event? and, another woman in our side of the party? the night before the wedding? marriage: the ultimate opportunity for boring people to show they actually do know how to throw a fun party. for once. other than that? a cash cow for the costume industry. which is fine! but not more than that. …oh, and they’re divorcing, now. a whole 10.5 months later. the sanctity of it all… puts me to sleep.

I wonder if a Boobquakist wedding will be like when it is invented. What features are necessary to make it so good that Christians and Muslims will have to abandon their boring traditions and convert to Boobquakism?

I hate being defined as an “anti” and “atheist” is an “anti” term to me. So, after decades of calling myself an atheist, I discovered that there are people out there who think like me and got organized: The World Pantheist Movement. I haven’t met any near me, but then I’ve learned to live quite happily without being in a group or having anywhere to go on weekend mornings besides the bagel shop.

Erp, you’re indidious; look what you’ve started. My daughter is getting married in a $5 dress (exactly what she wanted from the Thrift store; go figure) at a picnic next weekend. For reasons too complicated to explain, we have a portable May Pole. I just emailed her asking if she wants it at her wedding. They decided that the moon bounce would be too noisy and detract from the vows and conversation. :-( But May Poles are really quiet most of the time.